I have always thought that the intention of the Second Amendment was three-fold: to establish that the states needed their own militia, that the citizens were that militia, and that *both* the states' militia and the individuals making up those militia had the right to keep and bear arms, both jointly and severally.
By "keep," history shows that individually-served weapons such as rifles, pistols, muskets, spikes, bayonets, and the like were kept by either their individual owners or, in the case of issuance, those to whom those weapons were issued by the state -- or in some cases local -- government. They were kept in their own homes or on their persons. In the case of crew-served weapons, which back in the day would mean cannon and the like, and today could mean anything from artillery to some of the larger anti-tank missiles, it was impractical for most citizens to store them at their residences. But if a citizen had the room to do so, it was actually desired for them to keep such crew-served weapons in, say, a barn or a blacksmith's shed. This was so that citizens would have instant access to them *and* so that the government would not know where a single large cache of citizens' weapons could be confiscated. If a citizen either made his own crew-served weapon or purchased one of his own accord, there was nothing preventing him from doing so. Citizens were trusted with even the largest and most powerful weapons of their times, and there were as many criminals per capita in that day as there are today. But criminals were categorized as such (like today) and people protected themselves against them by arming themselves. Should citizens be allowed to own artillery? Well, logic tells me that "never say never" is a good policy, because who knows all conditions that might apply? That's where the beauty of the waiver system works so well. Currently, you apply on a weapon-by-weapon basis to the federal government for a waiver on the prohibition of the weapon. You go through a vetting process so stringent it would make a nun cry, and if the fed can't find cause to deny you, it's yours (after paying a stiff transfer tax, that is). I would eliminate the federal waiver system in favor of one at each state's level, but essentially make it the same sort of animal. That way each state can look at the weapon-owner-cause relationship carefully and approve or disapprove on a case-by-case basis, thereby reasonably protecting the general public while reasonably ensuring against undue restriction on individuals' rights to own even the most powerful of weapons. What do you all think of this? Respectfully, Adam Phillip Churvis President Productivity Enhancement > -----Original Message----- > From: Loathe [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 8:04 AM > To: CF-Community > Subject: Re: Right To Bear Arms > > You're wrong man. I think you even know thats not what the framers > intended. It's too damned easy to read what those guys had to say on > the issue and see they meant it to be an individual right, that they > really did mean there should be no laws on arms. > > Gruss Gott wrote: > >> tBone wrote: > >> The states pussed out on speed limits, no denying that one. > > lol > >> Have you listened to the supreme court opening debates yet? > > > > Oh, yeah, they might do it, but here's my gun bitch: > > > > A few years back some dude shot his son in the chest because he > > "thought he was a bear" despite the fact the kid was wearing blaze > > orange. > > > > The bottom line is that there are too many morons with guns. > > > > So maybe that's the new regulation: if you're a moron we're taking > > your guns since you'll probably just shoot your militia buddy rather > > than government anyway. > > > > It's militia service. > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:257098 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
